Lantern.



F. D. DREW.

LANTERN.

APPLICATION FILED FEB 23. 1916.

Patented Oct. 31, 1916.

-IE5IC'K D. DREW, 0F YARMOUTH, NOVA SCOTIA, CANADA.

LANTERN.

Application filed February 23, 1916.

1 '0' all "107mm 2'2 may concern Be it known that l, l nnnnmcii ll). DREW, a. citizen of the llnited fa'tates, residing at Yarmouth, in the Prorince of Nova flicotia, Dominion of Canada, have in vented new and useful improvements in Lanterns, of which the folli iwing is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in lanterns of the general type known as hand lanterns, commonly comprising a. base forming" a font or reservoir for the fuel ed, a hood or a cap piece, frame arms connecting the base and hood or cap piece, a burner mounted upon the base, a draft tube carried by the hood, a. globe or chimney reinovably mounted between the burner and draft tube, and a handle, ordinarily connected with the frame arms, whereby the lantern may be carried and manipulated.

The present invention pertains also more particularly to hand lanterns of that class wherein the draft tube mounted for ver- -tical movement and serves as-the clamping or retaining means to hold the globe or chimney in place, the chimney being released by the draft tube out of engagement therewith. The chimp or globes of lanterns of this character comi'nonly made. of thick glass and fit at the top within the draft tube and closed and supported at. the bottom by a base plate. This base plate commonly carries a wire guard to inclose and partially protect the globe and is adapted to be raise l by suitable mechanism to lift it suflieicntly to enable access to be obtained to the burner for the purpose of lighting the wick. The draft tube referred to is normally held in depressed position by controllingsprings and moves upwardly under pressure from bch'uv to allow the chimney has: and chinn'icy he raised and is pro vidcd with a finger piece whereby it may be lifted independently to withdraw the-draft tube from engagement with the globe when desired. so as to permit the globe to be removed. Lanterns of this character are comparatively complex and costly, and furthermore the use of a glass globe or chimney is the cause of n'iany objections, among them Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented @ct, 3J1. Serial No. 79,996.

the liability of the chimney being broken by contact with extraneou objects or cracking and breaking when sub ected to variations of ten'ipcratures, requiring the renewal 'of such globes or c l'iimneys at more or less frequent intervals, such globes or chimneys frequently cracking, when the lantern is carried from a. warm place out into the cold air or when the globe becomes wet from rain or snow, owing to the differences in the superficial tensions between the inner and outer surfaces thereof.

()ne object of my invention is to provide a. casing or light box for lanterns of the character described to ,take the place of the ordinary glass globe or chimney, and ,which is constructed of sheet metal having openings therein closed by flat panes of glass de-' tacl'iably held in position in such a manner to permit free. expansion and contraction of the component parts withoutplacin the glass under unequal tensions and. rendering it liable to break.

A further object of the intention is to provide a light box or casing of triangular form and having, effective ventilation means, whereliv a casing of great strength and durability is produced and the flow of air permitted in such a way as to keep the internal temperature substantially uniform throughout.

A stillfurther object of the invention is to provide a construction which dispenses with the use of the ordinary chimney base piece and its coiiperatinp; raising and lowerinp; mechanism and which provides for the raising and lowering of the lantern casing by direct manipulation of the draft tube, thus simplifying the construction of the lantern.

With these and other objects in view, the invention consists of the features of construction, combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter fully described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawing in which i Figure 1 is a perspective view of a lantern constructed in accordance with my invention. Fig. 2 is a vertical longitudinal section, on an enlarged scale through the top ofthe lantern. Fig. 3 is a similar view on an'enlarged scale through the bottom of the lantern. Fig. t is a horizontal section 5 through the lamp casing removed.

Referring to the drawing, 1 designates a font or reservoir forming the base of the lantern frame, and which is provided with the fuel oil through a suitably closed filling inlet 2, from which reservoir base rise side arms 3 connected at their upper ends by a hood or cap piece -L. The font is provided with a burner 5 of any, preferred form and construction and including the crown piece 6 having an annular horizontal shoulder 7 which in general practice forms a seat for the bottom closure plate of the lantern chimney. Slidably mounted in the hood or cap piece 1 is a draft tube 8 having at its base an annular series of ventilation openings 9 and at its top a similar series of ventilation slots or openings 10. disposed beneath the cowl 11 having a pivoted finger piece 12. The draft tube is provided with vertical slots 13 receiving guiding and retaining members 14 on the hood. whereby said tube is held from axial movement while permitted to slide vertically to a predetermined extent, and springs 15 are suitably connected with the aforesaid partsand normally exert their energy to hold the draft tube drawn downward or depressed, while permitting it to be forcibly drawn upward. The frame arms 3 may be hollow and the hood may be provided with means for the admission and flow of air thereto to be heated so that the heated air will pass through the hollow frame arms to the burner tosecure better combustion, but as this is a construction in common use and forms no part of the present invention T have not deemed it necessary to specifically illustrate and describe .the same.

In accordance with my invention, I provide a lantern casing or light box 16 to take the place of the glass globe or chimney commonly employed. 'lhis casing 16 preferably comprises a three-sided or triangular body portion 17. closed at the top by a top piece or plate 18 and at the bottom by a base piece or plate 19, the bottom or base piece thus constituting an integral unitary part of what may be considered the lamp globe or chimney.

The described parts of the casing are formed of tinned sheet iron or other sheet metal, soldered, riveted or otherwise suitably united, and each side of the body 17 is fdrined with a light emitting opening closed by a glass panel or bnlls eye 20. This panel is preferably in the form of a flat sheet of glass of a desired thickness and of circular oatline, and so mounted upon the casing as to permit it to have a desired degree of independent expansion and contraction.

In the present instance, I have shown the marginal edge of the wall of each panel receiving opening struck outward to provide a flange 21 of partially circular form to receive the edge of the pane 20 which projects to a certain degree therein and is held in position by a split spring wire retaining ring 21 acting to press the edge of the pane against the inner surface of the segmental flange, and being disposed itself between the pane and outer edge of said flange, by means of which the pane is detachably held in position. By this arrangement sufficient space is left between the outer side of the flange and the edge of the pane to permit the latter to frcel expand and contract, by means of which liability of the pane cracking from variations of temperatures is reduced to a determined degree.

The base plate 19 of the lantern casing is formed with an openin 23 to receive the crown of the burner and said plate is oifset or struck up around the margin of the opening to provide a horizontal flange 24 to rest upon the shoulder or seat 7 and to provide a vertical abutment s1 rface 25 engaging the sides of the burner to hold the lantern casing from lateral movement and displacement in any direction. The plate 19 is formed with ventilation openings 26 for the admission and upward flow of air, while the side walls of the body 17 are provided at their upper portions with air inlets 26 through which cold air is admitted. This cold air descending along the interior surfaces of the sides and meeting the upflowing currents of warm air tends to equalize the internal temperature of the lantern casing throughout. thus diminishing contraction and expansion from variations of temperature changes and reducing further any tendency to undue expansion and contraction of the glass panels. Such cooling currents of air furthermore act as down-draft currents along' the inner sides of the glass panes. which to an extent insulate the panes rom the rising warmer currents of air. thus keeping the internal temperature of the panes more nearly equal to the external temperature. Through these several agencies coiiperating to reduce the temperature of the. panes, it will be evident that there is much less liability of the panes cracking. even when the lantern is carried out into very cold air or the outer surfaces of the panes are subjected to the direct cooling action of rain or snow. Hence the major portion of the objections incident to the use of glass globes or chimneys are obviated by my improved construction of lantern casing, and in addition a casing of much greater strength and durability is produced, which in itself is not liable to lie-injured by contact with extraneous objectsand which gives ample protection to the, glass panes. It will, of course, be understood that the panes may be made of the same or different colors to adapt the lantern for general, lighting or signaling purposes.

The top plate 18 of the lantern casing is provided with a ventilation opening 28 which is of a diameter conforming substantially to the diameter of the draft tube 8. Projecting upwardly from the plate 18 around said opening is an annular coupling flange 29 subdivided by vertical slits 30 to form a series of resilient segmental sections, capable of permitting the flange as a whole to contract and expand to a desired degree. These flange sections are struck out to provide anv annular external locking bead '31 adapted to engage and interlock with an annular recess 32 on the lower ends of the draft tube 8. By this construction the draft tube is adapted when depressed to surround and interlock with said flange, and to be held in interlockingengagement therewith by the spring locking action of the resilient sections. This locking action is sufficiently strong to hold the parts in engagement so that by pulling upward on the finger piece 12 the lantern casing may be elevated with the draft tube, so as to permit access to the burner from below for lighting purposes, etc. By this means the use of any means at the base of the lantern casing for the purpose of raising and lowering said casing is avoided, and at the same time provision is made for utilizing the action of the springs 15 to serve the suplenientary function of clamping the casing in applied position. This construction allows the casing tobe easily removed when required by simply pulling upward on the draft tube while the casing is held by hand from upward movement, whereupon the base of the draft tube will out of locking engagement with the sectional spring flange 29, as will be readily understood.

From the foregniine description, taken in connection with the drawings, the construclion and mode of use of my improved lantern will be readily understood, and it will be. seen that the invention provides a lantern which includes a lantern casing of {great strength and durability and having glass panes which are much less liable to fracture than lass chimneys or glol'ies for the reasons lully set forth.

Furthermore, it will be seen that the invcnlion provides a construction which allows parts commonly employed to be dispensed with, thus making the lantern less expensive of construction and also less exspring pensive to maintain in service, on account of the durable character of its component parts.

Other advantages of the invention will be apparent from the foregoing description.

I clain 1. In a lantern, a draft tube, a. lantern casing having a top plate provided with a ventilation opening for communication with the draft tube, and a marginal flange surrounding the opening and projecting'upwardly from said plate, said flange being formed to provide a plurality of locking projections, said locking projections and draft tubes having means thereon for detachable interlocking connection with each other.

2. In a lantern, a lantern casing comprisinn; a triangular sheet metal body consisting of bottom, top and side walls, each of the said side walls of the body being provided with a transparent panel, and the said bottom and top walls-being provided respectively with an opening to receive the lantern burner and an opening for communication with a draft tube, the said bottom wall being formed with an annular series of openings surrounding the burner opening therein and groups of openings at the corner portions thereof, and the said side walls of the body being each provided with openings extend ing entirely across the upper portions thereof.

8. In a lantern, a draft tube, a lantern casing having a top plate provided with a ventilation opening for con'imu'nication with the draft tube, and a marginal flange sur- 100 rounding the opening and projecting upwardly from said plate, said flange being slitted to form a plurality of resilientsections, said flange sections and draft tube having means thereon for interlocking con- 105 nection with each other.

4. In a lantern, a lantern casing having, a top plate provided with an opening therein for communication with a draft tube or chimney, and a marginal flange projecting 110 upwardly from said plate around said opening; and slitted to provide a series of resilient sections, each having a portion ollset thcrefrom to provide a locking rib for engagement with a cooperating locking part on 115 the draft tube.

in a lantern, a base including a burner,

a. lantern casing having an apertured bottom plate to detachably receive and engage the burner and an apertured top plate, said 120 tbp plate being provided'with an upstanding resilient sectional flange having locking elcmerits upon the sections thereof, av hood, a vertically movable draft tube within lhe hood having means for lifting); it, and spring means for depressing said hood, said hood for lifting it, and spring means for depressing said hood, said hood being provided with a base portion adapted to surround and interlock with said flange.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two Witnesses.

FREDERICK D. DREW.

Vitnesses:

E. EDMONSTON, J12, BENNETT S. JONES. 

